[Report] Ryan Miller wont' skate for another 3 weeks

[#1Luongofan]

That sucks for him but it won't matter canucks aren't going anywhere this year anyway certainly not

past first round if they get in

[oldnews]

That sucks for him but it won't matter canucks aren't going anywhere this year anyway certainly not

past first round if they get in

[tyhee]

Horrible news, Miller was on top of his game, and just like last season, Lack will be burnt out down the stretch, unless they believe Markstrom can come in and give Lack a rest, which he hasn't had since Feb 19th vs the Rangers. The Canucks are in a playoff race, do they risk starting Markstrom in some key games coming up? You guys see what I'm getting at here? This Miller injury has a trickle down affect.

It never ceases to amaze me the selective memories of people who don't want Lack in goal.

You say Miller was on top of his game. I'm guessing you mean at the time he was hurt-you haven't really said when you meant. And in fairness he had stopped the 10 shots he'd faced in the game he was hurt (Lack went on to stop another 27 in the final 39 minutes of the game.)

But Miller had been mediocre over his last 11 games. He had a really good streak from late December to mid-January in which he'd been outstanding, but that was clearly over. Since then he played 583 min 58 seconds in 11 games, allowing 30 goals on 277 shots.

In those last 11 games he had a goals against average of 3.08, a save % of .892 and the team lost 6 of those 11-and you say he was on top of his game????????????

btw, one of the 5 wins he got credit for was the game he was hurt after 21 minutes and 10 shots, Lack coming in to finish the shutout win and facing 27 shots in 39 minutes.

Miller was spectucular over a 10 game stretch in late Dec to mid January, but after that was anything but on top of his game. I've chosen the most recent period because of your statement that Miler was on top of his game. In fact, he'd been going through a very mediocre stretch at the time of his injury.

How has Lack done since he became the temporary #1? He's started 9 games, the team has gone 6-2-1 in those games. He has a save % since taking over of .929, a goals against average of 2.20. He did this during a time the team was crumbling with injuries, for a time being without Edler, Tanev, Bieksa, Corrado and 3 forwards. He was named 1st star 3 of the 9 games he's started since being #1, 2nd star once, 3rd star once. He's faced 41 shots once, 40 shots once and 39 shots once-more than, I believe, Miller ever faced all season.

For most of the season Lack was given the short end of the stick, for a time playing only the back end of back to backs, with the team playing far worse in front of him than they did for Miller. (He faced over 40 shots a few times in his few starts, Miller never has as a Canuck that I can recall.)

Lack has been better as a #1. Since he became #1 his GAA is way lower than Miller's, his save % way higher than Miller's, he's faced more shots per game than Miller did and done this during the worst stretch of injuries the Canucks have had this season. Since he became #1 his winning % is higher than Miller's.

Even if one considers the full season, Lack's overall GAA and Save % are better on the season, 2.38 to 2.47 for GAA and .921 to .913 for save %. On the whole of the season, including all the time Lack got the short end of the stick, Miller still has a higher winning %, though it isn't as good as Lack's since Lack started playing all the time.

I've maintained all season that Lack was playing better than Miller, even while Miller was getting preferential treatment and Lack the short end of the stick. I was doubtful Lack could step in as #1 without sharing a good deal of time, but am a doubter no more.

Really hope this isn't true.. WD said Miller is 2-3 weeks away couple games ago. Were not gonna make it past round 1 with Miller out.

The most likely scenario right now appears to be Canucks vs Kings in the 1st round. Canucks will be underdogs regardless of whether their goalie is Ryan Miller, Eddie Lack, Jacob Markstrom or Patrick Roy in his prime.

concerning how some Canucks fans are happy because it means by default Lack plays.

give your a head a bloody shake. Lack is still questionable and a wild card right now.

Having given my head a shake (it didn't get bloody) I can only suggest it's time to remove your head from the sand and see things as they really are this season.

your kidding me right ? Eddie lack literally broke down last year. Ryan miller also had a 93 percent save percentage, and he didn't choke. I can't believe your this naive.

Why let facts get in the way of a good rant? Miller last year was traded to a really good St Louis team to try to get a run to the Cup. The regular season GAA and save % for the 3 St Louis goalies last season:

Halak GAA 2.23 Sv % .917 24-9-4

Elliott GAA 1.96 Sv % .922 18-6-2

Miller GAA 2.47 Sv % .903 10-8-1

i.e. Miller was easily the worst goalie, statistically, for St Louis last season-worst in goal against average, worst in save %, worst in winning %. He was a huge disappointment in St Louis-a team that had 111 pts in the regular season and high hopes for the playoffs.

Miller went on to post a 2.70 GAA and .897 save % in the playoffs as the Blues were bounced in the 1st round.

Source: http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/STL/2014.html

That's all for my post, but I'll include game by game data below the line below in case anyone wants to check my figures. All are from game recaps at canucks.com.

_______________________________________________________________________

Miler's most recent 11 games:

Jan 20 TB 57:56 22/25 L

27 Ana 57:19 20/23 L

30 Buf 60 20/22 W

Feb 1 Min 57:19 16/19 L

5 SJ 60 33/38 L

7 Pit 60 31/31 W

9 Min 27:59 13/18 L (pulled)

13 Bos 60 21/23 W

14 Cgy 58:19 31/34 L

19 NYR 64:08 30/34 W

22 NYI 20:58 10/10 W (injured, Lack finished game stopping 27 shots for shared shutout)

Games 11. 5 wins, 6 losses. 583 min 58 seconds played, stopped 247 of 277 shots.

GAA=3.08 Sv % =.892.

Lack since it was announced Miller was out 4-6 weeks:

Feb 24 Bos 60 40/41 W

26 Buf 58:45 18/23 L

Mr 1 St L 65 34/39 W

3 SJ 51:07 23/24 - (Markstrom started and took the loss. Lack allowed 1 goal in relief while the Canucks scored 2 while he was in net.)

5 Az 64:29 33/35 SOL

7 SJ 60 38/40 W

9 Ana 59:48 29/30 W

12 LA 59:48 16/19 L

14 Tor 59:56 28/29 W

17 Phi 60 27/28 W

598 min 53 seconds; stopped 286 of 308 shots. GAA=2.20, Sv % =.929; 6 W 2L 1 shootout loss.

[wai_lai416]

only in vancouver fans will start a goalie controversy every single year at the first possible chance.

[ggiesbrecht12]

We don't need Ryan Miller, it was a mistake to sign the guy in the first place. Just look at how much better Lack is playing without the canucks constantly switching goalies. Lack is getting into a groove. However I think it would be nice to get Markstrom in a game very soon. Columbus maybe?

Signing him was not a mistake IMO. Yes, Lack has played excellent consistently lately while playing many games at a time. It will eventually catch up to him though, and that is why we need Miller back, especially come playoff time. We do not have a solid backup at the moment so that is another reason we need Miller back as well. We could have 2 top notch goalies going into the playoffs! (Miller and Lack)

[alfstonker]

We don't need Ryan Miller, it was a mistake to sign the guy in the first place. Just look at how much better Lack is playing without the canucks constantly switching goalies. Lack is getting into a groove. However I think it would be nice to get Markstrom in a game very soon. Columbus maybe?

We WILL miss Miller in the playoffs, by the very fact we have not a "trusted" No 2. To say anything else is silly imo.

[CeeBee51]

I'm just happy Eddie is playing great. No controversy in my mind. What management does is fine by me.

[Mackcanuck]

News1130 Sports ‏@News1130Sports 44m44 minutes ago

Agent Mike Liut on Ryan Miller's knee injury : "He is not behind schedule, he is on schedule." #Canucks

News1130 Sports ‏@News1130Sports 44m44 minutes ago

More Liut : "This injury is never 4 weeks for a goalie, it's 6-8 weeks. #Canucks

News1130 Sports ‏@News1130Sports 43m43 minutes ago

Liut : "As I told you 2 weeks ago, goalies take longer to recover from this type of knee injury." #Canucks

[aGENT]

Does anybody realistically think a tandem of Lack/Markstrom would've gotten us to where we are? It's a theoretical question obviously, but I'm on the "absolutely not" side of that one.

I personally would have preferred we signed a "journeyman" tender at +/- $3m to tandem with Lack and split games more evenly and spend that extra ~$3m upgrading the D.

But I also would have been ok with going with Lack/Markstrom and having closer to $5m to upgrade the D as well. IMO that makes for a far greater team improvement than Miller does. A Lack Markstrom tandem wouldn't have happened in a vacuum, you have to also consider the benefits we would have had by spending that money on improved D (or a forward).

Look, I can see the possible benefit that signing Miller had for the first ~2 months or so of the season. We were a fragile team coming off a BAD season, with a new rookie coach and a fair bit of roster turnover. Having a solid veteran goalie back there could easily be argued gave us some stability and the time for the team to get it's footing. Sure, great.

However that contract with $6m per for the next 2 years and 10 months could have been far better spent IMO. Miller's a good, veteran goalie. I don't think anyone's arguing that but his contract was a VERY short term gain for longer term pain.

[apollo]

Miller wasn't stealing a series regardless, maybe a game or two but that's it.

Yes he will. He's an elite goalie amd vezina winner. It'll be MILLEERRRRTIME all playoffs. June 14th edler will hand him the cup after he's done his lap

[TheRussianRocket.]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/agent-no-injury-setback-canucks-miller/

Agent: No injury setback for Canucks' Miller

Pressure's still on, Eddie Lack.

Ryan Miller will not return to the Vancouver Canucks until the playoffs, but that does not mean the No. 1 goaltender has suffered a setback in his recovery.

"He is not behind schedule; he is on schedule," Millers agent, Mike Liut told Vancouver's News 1130 Thursday. "As I told you two weeks ago, goalies take longer to recover from this type of knee injury.

"This injury is never four weeks for a goalie. It's six to eight weeks."

*rest of article can be read in the link*

[Wolf smell]

concerning how some Canucks fans are happy because it means by default Lack plays.

give your a head a bloody shake. Lack is still questionable and a wild card right now.

Dont you see Lack will have Miller in his corner, whispering all sorts of positive things in his ear. While Lack may not be an experienced starter what he sorely missed last year during the end of season lapse was good ol veteran presence. Someone to get him over the hump, this could very well be the time Lack goes from 1B/2 goalie to a bonafide great starting tender.

[elvis15]

EDIT: And of course it was posted above.

But Miller will get there, and this isn't a concern after Lack's been playing well. If we can't get Marky into some games to spell him off, then it'll be an issue, but for now one poor game from Markstrom isn't a concern. After all, Lack had a bit of a poor start after Miller's injury but has improved since.

[Monty]

He's worth more than a 2nd rounder to us.

We gave up a 2nd rounder for Vey and Baertschi. Surely Lack is worth more than that.

I think we could get one of Buffalo's late firsts and a prospect if we decided to trade him.

Depending on the prospect. Otherwise, they have other options in the off-season for goaltenders. As a Jets fan, I'm hoping and praying that Pavelec appears to be competent enough so the Sabres can take him off our hands for anything. Even a late round draft pick would be good enough. Just get him away from this team.

[Mattrek]

Did you have complete faith in Schneider as well the last year he played in the playoffs?

Let me recap it for you.

Luongo started the first 2 games, we lost 3-1, than 3-2.

Then, Schneider started - we lost 5-2, and 4-3 - more goals against then Luongo's starts.

Here's what Thornton said after the 5-2 win:

"We felt Lou was playing great, to be honest with you," Sharks captain Joe Thornton said of Luongo. "We felt lucky we didn't have to play against him. When we shot tonight, we made it count, and it was big that we did."

I'd rather have Miller's experience.

That said, I'm sure Lack will be fine, but according to stats, Kings have his number....

The King's have this whole team's number, not just Lack; including Miller.

[5minutesinthebox]

Horrible news, Miller was on top of his game, and just like last season, Lack will be burnt out down the stretch, unless they believe Markstrom can come in and give Lack a rest, which he hasn't had since Feb 19th vs the Rangers. The Canucks are in a playoff race, do they risk starting Markstrom in some key games coming up? You guys see what I'm getting at here? This Miller injury has a trickle down affect.

Miller had been terrible since the new year and right until his injury. Lack will be fine.

[5minutesinthebox]

We WILL miss Miller in the playoffs, by the very fact we have not a "trusted" No 2. To say anything else is silly imo.

Tell that to the Blues

[The Magician]

Y’all saying Lack is our #1 are straight retards

[FijianCanuck]

Whoever thinks Miller lost the series for the blues last year need to give their heads a shake. Blues couldn't score!

[250Integra]

Miller was not brought in to be our goalie for the long term.

He was brought it as a bridge for Lack / Markstrom to back-up, get some games in, and become a starter in the next year or two. We have a proven veteran goalie as an asset that teams will come knocking on come next years trade deadline. Come playoff time, if Lack continues to play the way he has over the last 10 games, there's no reason she should be sitting on the bench.

However, WD has said that (and I'm paraphrasing) "Miller has played a long time and is a veteran guy in this league, he deserves some things". I can see Miller on a short-leash for Game 1 of the playoffs (if we make it and lose).